Calendar Girls

Calendar Girls premiered at the Chichester Festival before a UK Tour in 2009 and transferring to the West End in 2010. Since then it has become the fastest selling play in British theatre history.  This accolade continued at Horsehay Amateur Dramatic Society with a sellout run.

This was my first visit to HADS, so thank you for the invitation. I enjoyed meeting you.

The story of Calendar Girls is most certainly well known. Following the death of John due to Leukaemia his widow Annie and her best friend Chris set out to fund a new settee in the visitor’s room at Skipton General Hospital.

I understand the actors playing Annie and Chris had both performed the play previously. However, they had both played the opposite role on that occasion.  

They persuade some fellow members at Knapely WI to pose nude (not naked) for an ‘alternative’ calendar. For this the play is known for the courage (tackling the subject matter and the nudity) as well as for displaying camaraderie amongst the members of the WI while not abiding to the norm of selling plum jam.

Cath Fisher as Chris and Shirley Gladwin as Annie both played their roles with tenderness and determination while also bringing out the lighter moments within the script. Their friendship and, towards the end, their differences was believable. The line about if in doubt for a special occasion purchasing a cake from Marks and Spencer always goes down well with the audience.

The other four women were all well played with good individual characterisations by Lucy Warrilow (Cora), Kathy McEntagart (Jessie) Leigh Dudbridge (Celia) and Lisa Kane (Ruth). Each actor was believable and we got to know their back stories and what drove them to appear within the infamous calendar.  

Robin Cooper as John, a true Yorkshire man, played the role with the sensitivity required as the cancer progressed.

Rob Fisher playing Rod equally gave a strong performance as he tried to keep the flower shop going despite the odds.

Jane Parkyn portrayed well the strait-laced Marie, battling against the calendar idea right until the very end when she was converted. showing the character’s frustration as she was thwarted at every turn, until her eventual conversion to the cause. 

Different characters were played by both Callum Hancock and Alison Weir. Callum as the somewhat nervous Lawrence the photographer and the more outrageous Liam the film producer. Alison played the snotty Lady Cravenshire (hand gel supplied after every handshake) and Elaine the hairdresser.

The costumes were well chosen for each character including the two Mother Christmas outfits and an outrageously large hat for Lady Cravenshire.

The set on stage was simple, consisting of two window effects and flat up centre behind which was the main door into the hall. Other scenes including a marquee, hospital and Knapely Hill (John’s Hill) were also played within the same set, with little to demonstrate the change.  

The scene where what seems to be countless letters arriving in recognition of the achievement, apart from a couple from an infatuated prisoner, worked well by having them attached to the set and brought out the clever script when extracts of these letters were read. 

Having seen this play (as well as the musical) a few times over the years the final scene regularly has the stage covered in sunflowers. HADS’s production under the directorship of Tim Parkes was somewhat different.

On arrival at the hall I had noticed sunflowers on the back of each seat. I assumed this was part of the overall look, putting the audience in the mood alongside the display around the proscenium arch.  However, rather than the sunflowers on stage the audience were asked to remove the flower in front of them and wave in the air as if blowing in the wind. A truly wonderful stroke which worked well and must have looked amazing from the stage.

Thank you for an enjoyable evening, one that brought laughter, tears and applause from the capacity audience.

Next on the programme HADS have One Man, Two Guvnors in July followed by A Murder is Announced in October.

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